Ramblings of an Emergency Physician in Texas

SWAT Docs save officer’s life in Dallas

A Dallas police lieutenant shot in the neck during a Wednesday morning raid was expected to survive, thanks largely to two doctors on the SWAT team he led.

The doctors said they did not dwell on whether Lt. Carlton Marshall would live or die. Instead, they fell back on their training, mentally checking off what they knew must be done. Stop the bleeding. Get him oxygen.

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As cries of “Officer down!” went out over police radios, the two SWAT team doctors headed toward the side of the house. Drs. Eastman and Metzger are physicians at Parkland Memorial Hospital and UT Southwestern Medical Center. They join the SWAT team on missions as often as several times a week….

Seconds after Wednesday’s gunshot, the doctors met SWAT team members dragging Lt. Marshall around toward the front of the house. The doctors crouched in the grass over the lieutenant.

Blood gushed from his neck and his airway was clogged; the doctors knew he could not get oxygen. Dr. Metzger held the lieutenant’s head in his hands while Dr. Eastman cut a hole in his neck, allowing him to breathe.

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I’d have to guess they did a field cric, but it’s hard to know. At any rate, it’s a save!

I’ve been interested in Tactical Medicine for a long time (I got very interested after Columbine), and good for these two docs, and a speedy recovery is wished for the officer.

“SWAT medics were on the scene. They are doctors that volunteer to be on the scene of that type of thing in case an officer is injured so what a blessing. What a blessing they were there and they had to perform an emergency tracheotomy and that saved his life, ” Barbara Ordesch said.”

The officer was shot in the neck, with a .40 caliber round. The shot may well have destroyed his cricoid or thyroid cartilages, so there is a possiblity that he did, in fact, receive a field-expedient trach.

I attended a PR program put on by the Odessa PD about a year and a half ago. And you may know this already, but at that time there was an EMT who was not only on the Swat team but who actually walked into the target building with the first entry team so that any officer who got injured would receive immediate care. Pretty impressive. He also said he would stay with the wounded officer in case he/she needed an advocate at the hospital.

It was a surgical cric. We don’t carry the special kits (such as the kwikcric), as we try to use equipment that can have a dual purpose (a scalpel and endotracheal tube can be used for several things…). Everything we use must be easily carried with us, so we try to keep the load down to a minimum.

Thanks for the quick response of the SWAT doctor. Saving others lives is not just a responsibility for doctors but it is also all our responsibility. Having a proper training on saving lives would really help a lot…

Thanks for the quick response of the SWAT doctor. Saving others lives is not just a responsibility for doctors but it is also all our responsibility. Having a proper training on saving lives would really help a lot…